


Fix Broken Things

by Squeeb100



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III Whump, Hurt Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, I also managed to use no pronouns for the humans whatsoever. there just aren't any., Major Character Injury, POV Animal, POV Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), Whump, i mean it's sort of a major character injury it stresses toothless out pretty bad, takes place during rtte
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 12:49:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18623617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squeeb100/pseuds/Squeeb100
Summary: When a fun, routine flight takes a turn for the worst, Toothless takes the reins to save his best friend."He didn’t know what to do. This had only happened a few times, where Hiccup wouldn’t wake up, and those times there were always other humans who rushed to help. Toothless didn’t know important human things like how to fix someone who was broken. When a dragon was broken they were trapped and died, because it took a lot to hurt a dragon badly but once they were hurt there was nothing anyone could do for them."This started as me just messing with my Toothless POV and trying to help it develop its own unique voice but somewhere along the line something resembling a plot snuck in there and it became pretty cute I think





	Fix Broken Things

Toothless had adjusted to his human’s schedule. Before, he slept and sunned during the day and flew and hunted at night, relishing the cool, crisp air and the darkness painted inky black across the sky (which matched his healthy dark scales so nicely, indeed). Now he did so much when the sun was out that his body wanted to sleep at night, when he could hear his human sleeping close by with gentle, deep breaths. But he always woke up before his human, and it was his duty to make sure his human was awake too.

He took his time picking himself off of his warm slab of rock, stretching and humming and picking at his scales with his teeth. He wasn’t in much of a hurry, and it was his custom to groom himself a bit after waking up. His (dragon) flock could get the places he couldn’t reach, but he was fully capable of licking and chewing his legs and tail and bathing his face, lower belly and vent area. It didn’t take terribly long, since he wasn’t in shed, and soon he was up and padding over to his human’s nest.

His human (Hiccup, in the human language which Toothless had slowly learned to understand—it was just a sound, a silly name, and didn’t mean anything that he could discern, not like some of the other humans’ names) usually slept belly-up, not curled up or hanging upside down like Toothless would. All dragons knew that sleeping curled up was good and warm, but Toothless had always known his human to be a bit silly. Hiccup knew a lot about many human things but not very much about many Important Dragon Things, like not leaving your underside exposed.

Toothless approached his human and let out a big _whuff_ of breath which ruffled Hiccup’s fur. Humans had fur only on their heads, which was very odd and unlike most other creatures. His human stirred and did a little groan, one which in dragon might mean _I am still very sleepy, I don’t want to wake up._ Toothless wouldn’t let that stand—the sun was up and it was time for them to be up too. He couldn’t resist sniffling and whuffing at his human a few more times (Hiccup smelled good and familiar) before leaping up into the nest. This did the trick.

Hiccup made an “oof” sound, which in dragon might mean _oof._ Then Toothless’ human’s eyes (in front like something which hunts for food and fights with other hunters, but small and silly and bad for seeing in the dark) cracked open and Hiccup’s lips parted, baring teeth in a way which once meant _I’m very dangerous and I bite very hard, stay away from me_ but which Toothless now knew was one of the many things humans did when there was a good trick or a happy occurrence.

“Good morning, bud,” Hiccup said, voice still a little slow and sleepy. _Good morning_ was what humans said when they woke up. _Bud_ was one of Toothless’ names. He didn’t know what it meant, but the love in his human’s voice told him that it was a good and intimate thing.

Toothless hummed and chattered to Hiccup to convey something like _Good morning to you too, I love you very much. I’m hungry and I want to go flying._ Then he licked his human’s face a few times, because this was a thing which always woke humans up. He made _love_ sounds and _play_ sounds the whole time and bounced a little bit. Hiccup did not particularly enjoy this, making more _oof_ sounds and pushing weakly at Toothless’ chest. Hiccup wasn’t hurt, though, which Toothless knew because his human was making the silly _uh huh huh huh_ sound that was another thing humans did when there was a good trick or a happy occurrence.

“Get off,” Hiccup finally said, and Toothless complied, thumping down onto the floor where he continued to drum his feet on the ground eagerly. He wanted very much to go flying, because they went flying every time they woke up and it was time to stretch his wings. Hiccup groaned and sat up, running a paw through human-fur and yawning.

“Leg, bud,” Hiccup said, and Toothless turned and bounded over to a box where his human kept the skins humans wore on top of their normal skin (Toothless thought this was clever of them, since humans were soft and fragile things). Hiccup’s metal leg was on top and Toothless grabbed it in his mouth, trotting back over and depositing it in his human’s lap. Hiccup said “good job, bud,” and scratched Toothless under the chin, which was one of his very favorite places to be scratched. He closed his eyes in bliss.

After Hiccup’s leg was on, the human had to change skins (humans rarely slept in their sturdiest skins) and put all the important pieces of harness onto Toothless. The harness had felt strange at first, and he hadn’t wanted it, but Hiccup had showed him that it didn’t hurt. He knew now that it allowed him to fly and allowed his best friend to stay safe on his back, so he appreciated it very much. It was hard to stay still in his excitement, though, and Hiccup complained a lot when he moved.

Toothless could see Hiccup everywhere except right behind him, but he knew that his human was back there when he felt his tail being arranged. Hiccup had very cleverly made Toothless a tailfin which let him fly after his regular one was broken, and Toothless was still amazed by this accomplishment. He would never have thought of such a clever thing, and he was proud of Hiccup for doing so. It did involve a lot of scooting and tightening, but the thing was on very quickly since they had practiced and Hiccup was good at it.

Once he knew the tail was on, Toothless began to hop impatiently and howl, saying _Come on, come on, let’s fly! Let’s fly!_ With every part of his body. His weight caused big thumps, and Hiccup laid a hand on his head, making the _uh huh huh_ sound and telling him to “shhhhh, bud,” which was what humans said when they wanted someone to be quiet. Toothless put quite a bit of effort into calming down, following Hiccup eagerly when the human went outside.

The outside air was fresh and cool, but not unbearably cold. It was almost the warm season, when days were longest and the sun was hottest. Toothless liked the warm season.

He felt Hiccup tightening straps and checking that everything was safe. This was an important thing to do, even though it was boring, because sometimes the straps would break and they would lose control or Hiccup would fall. These were both very frightening things, so Toothless preferred to wait for Hiccup to make sure the harness was tight so they could fly as fast as they wanted.

“Okay, buddy, let’s go,” Hiccup said, swinging up onto Toothless’ back. Toothless waited very patiently for Hiccup’s leg to click into the tail controller before unfurling his wings. Hiccup nudged the sides of his neck to let him know he was ready to go, and Toothless took off.

Flying was exhilarating. It was what dragons were born to do—with wings and flames, Toothless was built to soar, to cut through the air with a piercing whistle and dive faster than any of his flockmates. Every fragment of his being felt exactly right when he was in the sky, his body feeling lighter than air and his soul soaring high in the clouds.

Toothless decided that he had a lot of energy, and immediately set himself to climbing as fast as possible. They needed to patrol their territory, but first he wanted to play. He and Hiccup had many fun flying and falling and chasing games, and one of his favorites was to shoot up into the sky and then drop as fast as possible before leveling out at the last minute. It was very dangerous and very fun, but he knew that he and Hiccup were both safe because they took care of each other. If they fell, they always worked together to fly again.

The one problem with this flying and falling game was that Hiccup could not go very high. The human had explained that it was hard to breathe so high up, which didn’t make much sense to Toothless at all, but he listened, pausing his mighty wingbeats when Hiccup leaned back and pulled up on the harness, keeping the tailfin flexed. Toothless leaned into Hiccup’s weight and looped backwards, belly to the morning sun, before plummeting down toward the tiny-looking trees. Toothless tucked his wings and legs to his body and Hiccup leaned down against his neck and let the tailfin fall flat to help them fall as fast as possible.

Hiccup was whooping and hollering, making sounds which in human meant _This is very fun! This is a very fun game!_ Toothless echoed the sentiment joyfully, enjoying the sharp feeling of wind in his face, the way it whistled past his head and under his wings, through his mouth and into his lungs, taking his breath away. His heart picked up as Hiccup leaned sharply to the side, pulling them into a spin as they shot down.

Then the ground was getting closer, closer, _too close_ and in the same instant, Hiccup leaned back and Toothless opened his wings, air billowing into them as they leveled out rapidly and shot over the tops of the trees, leaves rustling in their wake. Toothless felt _joy_ and _excitement_ swell in his chest until he couldn’t contain himself, blasting plasma out into the air straight ahead of them. Hiccup yelped and leaned to the right, Toothless following without a second thought.

Hiccup laughed, _uh huh huh huh,_ and scratched Toothless behind the ear as they straightened out and began to slow down, pulling into a quick but gentle glide, sustained by occasional wingbeats. “Way to go, bud,” Hiccup said; those were words of praise, and Toothless purred appreciatively. “We’re getting faster!”

Toothless hummed in agreement and glanced back to smile at Hiccup. Smiling was what the humans were doing when they bared their teeth in what could easily be perceived as a threat. It was friendly and happy, and Toothless made pleased sounds to go along with it. Hiccup smiled back and stroked the side of Toothless’ face, just behind his eye.

As much as he would have loved to continue playing, Toothless was aware, in the parts of his heart and mind that sometimes told him about important Things that dragons must do, that they needed to patrol their island. It was _their_ island, they had found it, along with the rest of their motley flock of humans and dragons. They had built dens and nests and marked it as their own, so it was essential that they patrol the border and make sure no other dragons or humans tried to take it. Toothless was alright sharing with the other dragons who lived there, the small black screamers and occasionally a larger friend, but he knew that most dragons (and many humans) who approached the island would not leave his flock alone as well as they did.

Hiccup seemed to agree that patrolling the island was very important, and allowed Toothless to take on a lazy circle around the perimeter, scoping the beaches, forests and water for anything suspicious. There were bad humans who sometimes came near the island trying to catch dragons or humans, and it was most important to check for them.

The morning was still, though, as they glided over the beach, and Toothless took a moment to let himself enjoy the freedom of flight. He paid close attention to Hiccup shifting around on his back, but his rider didn’t seem to want to go anywhere in particular and Toothless was perfectly happy to simply enjoy the cool morning. He closed his eyes and made a shuddering, pleased sound in his throat to say _I am happy._

He was so fully wrapped up in the peace and warmth of the moment that he nearly missed the alarm cry echoing from somewhere across the water. It was a shrill, high voice; he recognized it as the sound the spiked twolegs made. He heard it frequently from a member of his flock, who the humans called Stormfly, which meant _flies in storms._ Toothless liked to fly in storms more than Stormfly, but his name meant _has no teeth._ It was a silly name, because he _did_ have teeth. He didn’t mind, though.

Hiccup hadn’t reacted to the alarm cry, which sounded once more, saying _Danger! There is danger coming! Help help!_ Toothless veered left toward the frightened dragon, startling a noise out of his rider.

“Where are you going, bud? Toothless!” Hiccup sounded frustrated, but not angry. Humans were much worse at hearing than dragons, and Toothless’ human didn’t know why he had turned. Toothless understood this, and he made a patient sound at his rider. _You’ll see, just wait._

The alarm was coming from far away; Toothless and Hiccup had to fly over the open water for a while until they reached the nearest island. The sun was a little higher in the sky, but the air hadn’t warmed much, and Toothless heard Hiccup’s bemused sounds as they neared.

 _Help! Help help! Danger is coming!_ The alarm cries continued in different voices. They came from all corners of the island. Maybe the spiked twolegs were working to confuse whatever had frightened them; this was something Toothless and his flock had tried before, spreading as far apart as they could and calling to confuse the dragons in pursuit of them.

“Is that a Nadder call?” Hiccup asked, leaning forward in the saddle. Toothless chuffed in amusement. _Finally, you hear it,_ he teased.

“Sounds like they’re in trouble,” Hiccup said. Hiccup was, as Toothless had long been aware, a little slow when it came to matters concerning dragons. “Good ear, bud. Wow.” Toothless preened under the praise and the use of his most loving and intimate name, and let Hiccup lean to help him decide where to go. They both thought it would be best to circle above the island rather than divebomb into whatever danger had frightened the island’s current occupants.

The island below them was studded with rocks, but had a decent cover of greenery which made it difficult to see what was happening underneath. The cliffs which rose up from the island’s center were speckled with caves and nests, the kind which the spiked twolegs enjoyed. As they drew closer, Toothless noticed the dragons swarming around the cliffs, diving and circling and crying out things like _go away!_ and _Danger! Danger!_

As they pulled around the cliffs, Toothless noticed the human ships in the bay. Humans and danger together usually meant _hunters,_ an image of armored humans who shot venom spikes and set unbreakable metal traps which passed through Toothless’ mind just as Hiccup whispered “hunters.”

The human hunters were trying to scale the cliffs, Toothless realized, and the dragons were dipping and swooping and shooting spines, trying to knock them off and drive them away from the precious eggs which undoubtedly rested in the dens and nests. Wordlessly, Hiccup leaned toward the cliffs, and Toothless followed him without question.

“Okay, bud,” Hiccup said, in a voice which meant the human had an Idea. Toothless perked his ear flaps up to show his human he was listening. “We need to get rid of those hunters without hurting the dragons. Do you think we can zip by and pick them up off the cliff face? I’d rather not murder anyone. I can’t believe Viggo has them doing this.”

The last part of what Hiccup said was lost on Toothless, but he understood his task. Get in close and grab. He made an affirmative chirp so his human knew he understood before they both leaned into their descent, whistling around from the side of the cliffs in a way which echoed satisfyingly.

Toothless glanced to the side, targeting the human closest to the nests. The hunters were shouting now, startled, but he didn’t falter, tilting to the side and flying so close to the cliff face he almost brushed the rocks. He grasped the meaty human firmly, a task which required all four legs, before twisting away and zipping back into the open sky. They were slightly less aerodynamic now, but still far faster and higher than anything the hunters could shoot.

The hunter in his claws was shouting, panicked, yelling things along the lines of “put me down, put me down!”

“We will!” Hiccup promised. “Water, bud.” Toothless obeyed immediately, dipping down toward the shallow water near the bay. He avoided the ships and dropped until his belly was almost skimming the water. “Drop it, Toothless.” Toothless dropped the hunter, who fell into the water. He looked back under his belly to see the human surface, frightened but largely unharmed.

There was shouting from the ships, now, which meant they’d been spotted, and the venomous spikes began to whistle by. Toothless was faster than the spikes, and could avoid them easily, but it wasn’t good that all the humans knew they were here.

“Alright, now…I guess we just do that again?”

They only had to pick one more hunter off the cliff face before the rest of them were descending eagerly; Hiccup leaned back to pull Toothless up, telling him wordlessly that there was no need to keep pursuing them. The hunters had ascended so easily due to the coarseness of the cliff face, and were descending the same way; Toothless shot a blast of plasma toward the middle of the cliff, successfully dislodging a rock ledge. A few more shots had smoothed the rough patch.

“Good job, bud!” Hiccup praised, scratching Toothless in the _good_ place. He groaned and grumbled in appreciation. “Let’s see if we can drive them off the island.” Toothless could see the humans rounding the cliff toward the ship and thought that wouldn’t be much of an issue, but dipped down and blasted the ground behind them just to hurry them along. Hiccup urged him down to chase after the fleeing hunters.

A lot of yelling was happening between the humans on the ships and the humans on the beach, and some gesturing to Toothless and his rider, who were whizzing along just behind them, herding them away. They were closer to the ground and the ships than Toothless would have liked, in closer range and easier to trap, easier to shoot with the venomous spines or with a rock _rock ROCK!_

Toothless shrieked a warning to Hiccup, _Danger! We’re in trouble!_ and tried to pull up and wheel around. The flying boulder was too fast, though, and Hiccup’s own _danger_ shout was drowned out by the heavy _whizz thump crash_ of the projectile slamming into the cliff beside them. Toothless dodged fast, throwing his weight to the left, and they were too close to the ground too _close too close!_ Toothless didn’t have time to protect his human before they were slamming into the ground just behind the treeline. Toothless felt the _wham!_ on his back as he was thrown against a tree. They stopped.

Dazed and breathless, Toothless lay on the ground for what felt like a long time before blinking and shaking his head, clambering to his feet. Hiccup was not on his back, and a quick glance told him that his human was sprawled on the ground several bodylengths away. Toothless warbled in concern and bounded over to his friend but was interrupted by the shouting of humans on the beach. The hunters were coming back and they would trap him and hurt his Hiccup and he burst from the trees shouting and yowling: _Mine! Mine! Mine! Get away!_

But the humans weren’t moving. They were cowering on the rocky beach, hands over their heads as the spiked twolegs ducked and dodged around in the air, shooting spines and flames at the hunters. Toothless bellowed at them, mouth open wide, and loaded his final shot of plasma in his chest. The humans saw this and their eyes widened, a gesture which meant _yes, I’m afraid of you!_ They wheeled around and ran for the safety of their ships, so Toothless swallowed his fire and snorted at their backs, satisfied that they were leaving.

Toothless rushed back to his human’s side, ear flaps pinned against his neck nervously. Hiccup hadn’t moved, wasn’t moving, was his human hurt? Toothless sniffed around his human’s head frantically, _whuff whuff whuff,_ and whined in distress as he picked up the scent of blood under the familiar comforting Hiccup smell.

He heard the spiked twolegs approaching from behind, _hop hop,_ and growled in warning. _Don’t come closer, I’m dangerous and I’m mad! This is mine!_

The footsteps slowed, but some of the dragons were pressing on curiously. Toothless whirled around and snarled with his teeth and his plasma, threatening to bite _and_ shoot: _Go! Go away!_ This sent them fluttering back to their nests, screeching forlornly. Toothless turned back to Hiccup and paced around anxiously, smelling and nudging every inch of his human’s body. _Wake up?_ He asked. _Please wake up?_

Hiccup did not wake up, and Toothless warbled in increasing distress. His tongue darted out along the human’s face, one small stroke, then a long one, and another long one, because licking always did the trick. But his human lay still and unresponsive in a way that was totally _wrong_ and _bad_ and he ruffled his wings and paced with how nervous and wrong he felt inside. The blood smell and taste were from the back of his human’s head, which was a bad thing, and Toothless licked and licked but he couldn’t get the sharp flavor to go away.

He didn’t know what to do. This had only happened a few times, where Hiccup wouldn’t wake up, and those times there were always other humans who rushed to help. Toothless didn’t know important human things like how to fix someone who was broken. When a dragon was broken they were trapped and died, because it took a lot to hurt a dragon badly but once they were hurt there was nothing anyone could do for them.

Toothless hated the thought of this, and he curled around Hiccup, moaning in his chest. He draped a wing over his human, to _protect,_ but he knew protecting wouldn’t make Hiccup wake back up. He wanted to fly away and get other humans, but he couldn’t fly without his human, his other half, his best friend on his back. Toothless glanced at the water and tilted his head, reasoning. He knew where their home was, of course, but it would take a long time to swim there. But he knew, as he huffed and stood up, that he didn’t have a choice.

He would have to take Hiccup with him, of course. There were dragons here who might hurt or steal a human who couldn’t wake up, and the hunters might return. He made a clicking _thinking_ noise, trying to figure out how to get Hiccup on his back where the human belonged. He nudged his friend, trying to get his head underneath, but only succeeded in shoving the human across the ground uselessly. He huffed in frustration and tried a few more times, equally as useless.

What eventually worked was pushing Hiccup up against a tree and slipping his head underneath the human. This only worked temporarily, however; Toothless had to step toward the water very gingerly. He hadn’t considered that Hiccup who wasn’t _awake_ couldn’t hold on, and as soon as they entered the water the familiar weight lifted from his shoulders. Panicked, Toothless grasped Hiccup by the shoulder (as gently as possible, but with teeth so the human couldn’t slip away) and dragged hishumans to shore.

He fussed around his human, frightened and horrified by the idea that he had almost _lost_ Hiccup, that his friend had almost slipped away into the water which was dark and deep and _so dangerous_ because humans and Toothless couldn’t breathe under there. _Are you okay? Are you okay? Oh no oh no oh no,_ Toothless fussed, licking and sniffing and nudging to reassure himself that his human was in one piece and present with him on the rocks.

He couldn’t take Hiccup in the water. This meant the human would have to stay behind.

Toothless picked Hiccup up around the chest as gently as possible and dragged his friend back into the trees. His human was still limp and broken and wrong, and now wet also, but Toothless found a dense thicket of bushes and laid Hiccup down beside it. He blew fire at the ground to warm it up, _Yes, warm and safe, you’re safe, I love you,_ and let it cool down a little before he placed Hiccup in the safe nest. If the ground was too hot it would hurt a human, which Toothless knew because his human frequently got hurt while using overhot tools to fix things and build contraptions.

The little thicket was warm and hidden from sight, and it would have to do. Toothless was anxious and eager to swim back to the island and get help from someone who would know what to _do._ So with a goodbye lick and a loving _whuff,_ Toothless galloped back into the water and set off for home, paddling with his wings and feet.

The water was _cold,_ and Toothless felt it constricting around his ribs. He paddled steadfastly forward, though, determined to find help. The further out into the ocean he got, the more difficult it was to make his legs move. He couldn’t feel his wings and kept having to turn his head to be sure they were there at all. And the water was restless. It kept crashing up and into his eyes and mouth, which made him splutter and choke on the saltiness of it. He growled at the water like it was an overexcited dragon, telling it to _Lie down, be still. Stop this, I’m not in the mood to play._

His muscles burned and then froze, and he was so, _so_ cold, but he plunged steadily onward, determined to reach the other humans. Hiccup needed help; Toothless couldn’t stop to rest, not for any reason, even if he couldn’t feel his tail and his frozen wings dragged uselessly in water which reached up with sharp, cold claws to drag him down and strangle him.

So as much as he wanted to stop and rest, he pushed. Something deep inside him tugged him toward home, telling him where to go. Another sense entirely reached longingly toward the island he had left behind, and his hurt-broken human.

It was dark long before he reached the island, and when he did he washed up more than he swam to shore. He was exhausted, bone-deep tired. He didn’t even feel the cold anymore. He just wanted to sleep. There was something he had to do, something so, _so_ important, but he was so tired…he just wanted to sleep. He _needed_ to sleep.

It wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes for just a moment. The sand felt so warm.

***

“…Come from? ……..Hiccup?”

Toothless groaned as his waking mind realized how sore and exhausted his body was. He snuffled and sneezed to get the salt and sand out of his nostrils (it was sharp and itchy and he wrinkled his nose against the strangeness of it). His eyelids didn’t want to lift, and his eyes were sticky and stinging, but he’d heard the Astrid-human’s voice and he remembered having something very important to do. He had been flying, and fighting, and the _rock_ and Hiccup falling, Hiccup hurt!

His eyes shot open with alarm and he staggered to his feet, his body feeling tired and disobedient. The humans of the flock (except for his human, his Hiccup) were gathered in a circle around him, and they all backed up when he stood, alarmed by his sudden movements. He glanced around; they were all there, the loud yelling Snotlout-human and the two who act as one like the two-heads dragon they ride and Fish Legs whose legs are not Actually Fish, and, to Toothless’ joy, Astrid.

Toothless closed the distance between himself and Astrid quickly, shoving the human in the chest with his large head. He was so happy to see Astrid, who was familiar to him and close with his Hiccup and would know how to _help._ He breathed in the familiar scent of the Astrid-human, not as good or as comforting as Hiccup, but so, _so_ welcome. Then he scrambled back and unfurled his (sore, _sore_ ) wings, jumping and hopping in the sand. _We need to go, we need to go,_ he vocalized, looking at Astrid with big beseeching eyes. _Help help help help we need to go!_ He dipped and bobbed his head and flapped his wings. _Please please please we have to go!_

He could hear the humans chattering among themselves, concern and confusion in their voices. Though he had learned to understand his Hiccup-human near perfectly, Toothless still had difficulty with the fact that not all humans said things the same way Hiccup did. Their speech patterns were very strange, and though he could pick up most of their words, it was impossible when they all spoke together. Astrid, thankfully, stepped toward him, and he settled down and focused his attention on the petite human.

“Toothless…Hiccup?....Take us to?”

Toothless bugled agreement and pattered his feet, throwing sand. _Yes yes I will take you! It is very Important!_ He leaped and hopped in an urgent circle around Astrid, no playing in his body language. Only desperation. Then he spread his wings and crouched, inviting the human onto his back.

Instead of climbing on, the Astrid cast around anxiously, eyes finally landing on the rest of the flock. The human’s body was tense and questioning.

“Too tired?....All night.”

The other humans made unsure gestures and noises which, in dragon, might mean _I do not know._

Toothless growled and whined urgently. There was no time for the humans to be confused. _We need to go,_ he urged, pinning his ears and pulling his lip back to show his teeth. This was his way of saying _I am the boss and we need to go or else._

The Astrid-human looked frightened by this, which lit a small spark of pride in Toothless. He was strong and mighty and even this, a fierce hunter and fighter among humans, would submit to him. Astrid looked at him with wide eyes _(yes, I’m afraid of you!)_ and turned to the rest of the flock.

“Get…dragons…..Toothless…take us to Hiccup,” the Astrid said in a very commanding voice, and they scurried off because after Hiccup, Astrid was alpha of the humans. Toothless relaxed immediately so Astrid would know that he had never meant any harm (his Hiccup cared quite a lot for the Astrid human, so Toothless did as well). The human smiled and laid a hand on his muzzle.

“We’ll find him,” Astrid said, and Toothless understood perfectly.

***

Stormfly the spiked twoleg had been extremely upset at the thought of being left behind, even though Toothless needed the Astrid to operate his tail. She had screamed and screamed, _let me out! Let me out! Let me come, let me out!_ until they had opened the wooden den and released her to fly with the rest of the flock.

Toothless, ever-aware of the position of each of his flockmates, smelled and heard and saw (when she drifted out of his blind spot) that Stormfly was following him very closely. Under normal circumstances this would have been a problem, and he would have growled, _careful careful,_ to get her to move off.

These were not normal circumstances, however. His Hiccup-human was hurt and broken and limp and alone on an island with strange dragons and dangerous humans and he needed to be there _immediately._ He pushed himself as fast as he could possibly fly in his exhausted state and with an inexperienced rider.

Flying with Astrid was not like flying with Hiccup. Toothless’ human knew just how to move to blend with him seamlessly. Toothless forgot, sometimes, that Hiccup even had to operate his tail. They worked fluidly together as one being, dragon and human together, intuiting and predicting each other’s movements.

Flying with Astrid was not like flying with Hiccup.

Astrid’s foot was not Hiccup’s metal foot, which connected to the piece under Toothless’ wing which connected to Toothless’ tail and turned them into _one being._ Astrid’s foot didn’t know how to operate the tail, and stayed in one position, holding the fin open. It was serviceable for flying between two points, but made turning difficult and diving impossible. Astrid’s body was light, but somehow heavy in the wrong places, because Astrid sat differently than Hiccup. The human’s center of balance was fundamentally wrong, and it irritated Toothless.

At least it didn’t exhaust him like carrying the Stoick-Hiccup’s-sire-human did.

The humans chattered to each other the entire flight, but Toothless barely paid attention. He detected the anxious note in their voices, and knew they were intelligent enough to at least realize something was amiss. If only he could fly _faster._ Every second he was away from his precious human hurt him like a sharp claw between his scales, digging and digging and always reminding him that it hurt him and scared him.

It was agonizing, but they finally made it to the island, where Toothless and the Astrid-human executed an extremely clumsy landing. Toothless immediately took off toward where he knew he had left Hiccup, where he could smell the good Hiccup-smell and the bad-scary no good tang of blood. Astrid made a little high-pitched sound which in dragon might mean _I was not expecting this!_ as he galloped across the rocky beach. The other humans and dragons cried out sounds of _where are you going? What are you doing?_

Stormfly screamed _Mine! That’s mine, give it back!_ As Toothless left with Astrid, who belonged to her. She lifted off the ground and followed behind them at a glide, since her two legs were slower than Toothless’ four.

The smell of Hiccup grew stronger as Toothless approached the thicket, which meant the human had not moved. Toothless’ ear flaps perked up at this, and he trilled out a nervous question. _Hello? Are you there?_

“Toothless?”

It was Hiccup! Toothless warbled in delight that his human was okay and awake and not-broken. _Yes! Yes it’s me, I love you, I love you!_

“Hiccup?” Astrid cried.

”Astrid?” Hiccup echoed, voice surprised and relieved.

Toothless leaped into the thicket and onto his best friend (careful, of course, not to hurt him), licking and grooming and loving his Hiccup thoroughly. The blood-taste was still there, but it wasn’t fresh, and he licked and licked and Hiccup laughed _uh huh huh huh_ and everything was alright. Toothless didn’t care anymore that his legs were sore or his wings strained because he was here with his Hiccup who was _okay._

He felt the weight of Astrid leave his back and Stormfly’s loud protests faded as the spiked twoleg caught up. Toothless kept licking and loving and purring _I’m so grateful and so happy and so pleased to see you are okay, I love you I love you I love you,_ and Hiccup kept laughing and scratching Toothless with both paws on the nose and chin and all the Good Places.

“Okay, okay, bud, back off,” Hiccup ordered gently, and Toothless gave his human one more lick before obeying with a compliant mew.

“Are…okay? What happened?” Astrid was asking, leaning over Hiccup and fussing. Toothless skirted around the back of the Astrid-human to reach Hiccup and check all the human’s parts and places for injury or blood.

“Augh!” Hiccup said, which meant _something is hurting me,_ and Toothless whipped his head up to growl at Astrid _don’t you dare touch. Don’t touch. I’m warning you, I’m dangerous!_

But Hiccup stopped making pain-sounds after that and smiled weakly at Toothless. “It’s okay, bud. She’s not hurting me. She’s just checking me out.”

“Hiccup!….broken? What happened?” Astrid sounded surprised and concerned.

Toothless huffed. Of _course_ Hiccup was broken. Humans were fragile and soft and Hiccup had fallen and not woken up again.

“My arm’s just sore, but I think a couple of my ribs might be broken. I don’t remember what happened. We were…patrolling, and Toothless heard some Nadders in trouble,” Hiccup paused and scratched Toothless on the nose here, because the dragon had perked up at the sound of his name and was using his eyes and voice to ask for _praise and pets please because I am very good?_ “Viggo’s hunters were here, trying to take their eggs, and I think we drove them off, but we must have crashed or _something._ I don’t…I don’t remember. I woke up here alone.”

“Toothless swam….island!...alone,” Astrid supplied, and Hiccup turned to Toothless with a face that meant _I am surprised and amazed by this knowledge._

“Toothless!” Hiccup said, and it wasn’t an _admonishment_ voice but a surprised and concerned one. “Did you make me this little nest, too?” This question rose on a little laugh, _uh-huh,_ surprised and pleased and amused.

Toothless warbled affirmatively, pressing his nose and cheek to his human-friend’s side. He marked Hiccup with his throat-scent to show that he loved and protected his human before anything else. But Hiccup shied away from the pressure, making _aah, aah_ noises which meant _I am in pain,_ so Toothless pulled away immediately. He whined his concern, _what is hurting, what is wrong?_

“I’m okay, Toothless, I just got hurt,” Hiccup explained gently. “Did I fall, buddy?”

Toothless made some agreement noises, then some concerned nervous noises, to convey something like _yes, you fell off and got hurt and I have been very worried about you, best friend._

“I hit my head really hard,” Hiccup was explaining to Astrid. “It was dark when I woke up, and I was still dazed enough that I had to just kind of lay here. I haven’t been moving too much because I didn’t want to hurt anything else, and figured if they hadn’t captured me they didn’t have Toothless either, and if they didn’t have him he’d be back for me.”

Toothless purred gently and laid his head down where it was easy for his resting human to reach. Hiccup laid a comforting paw on his nose. _Of course I came back,_ Toothless said with the gesture. _I love you._ And Hiccup said it right back with that gentle paw.

“I was sort of worried they got you, though, bud,” Hiccup admitted softly, and Toothless made trusting eye contact with his human to say _I am safe. We are safe._

Astrid was speaking then, saying “…back to Berk…Gothi,” which was the word for the tiny human with all the small-annoying dragons who put strange herbs in water and made other humans drink it. Toothless was not a particular fan of the Gothi-human, because the Gothi had been an accomplice to the removal of Hiccup’s leg, and Hiccup had made _pain_ sounds even in sleep. Toothless did not know about human things like leg-cutting and herbs, but assumed it had been to help his human, who was hurt after the _falling_ and the _grabbing! I don’t want to hurt you but I have to grab you and save you!_

Toothless did not particularly like the Gothi-human, but he understood that the Gothi-human was a necessary evil, like using sharp teeth to bite and grab a good friend’s leg to save them from falling to the hard ground with the hot fire.

Hiccup and Astrid were still conversing, using their many human noises. Hiccup said “yes, I think so, but shouldn’t Toothless rest?” which was a response to Astrid’s question which had been something like _are you up for flying?_

Then Toothless was ushered backward as the Astrid helped Hiccup stand. Toothless’ human was shaky and wobbly, and made _aah, ahh, hurting_ sounds as they walked. Astrid told Hiccup something along the lines of _I will fly with you._ Toothless crouched to make mounting easier, and Hiccup clambered on, slotting the metal foot into the place where it belonged and was connected to Toothless. Astrid climbed up behind Hiccup, which made Stormfly complain, but they all ignored her.

The flight back to the Big Island (Berk, the humans called it) was very long. Hiccup made many concerned noises about Toothless, saying that he should rest because of all the swimming and flying he’d done. But Toothless knew it was important to get Hiccup to a human who knew how to fix broken things, because right now Hiccup was a broken and hurting thing. So he pushed through his exhaustion and soreness with the knowledge that Hiccup felt worse, insisting to his human that he _wanted_ to get home as soon as possible.

Hiccup’s human-flock kept talking, probably to keep Hiccup awake. They said silly things which Toothless thought probably wouldn’t make sense no matter how clearly they spoke, and Hiccup occasionally laughed, _uh huh huh._ Still, it was a full sun cycle before they reached the island, and Toothless felt about ready to drop out of the sky. Hiccup kept losing balance, shifting and trying to fall asleep (Astrid wouldn’t allow it, and Toothless didn’t understand why), so Astrid had taken over operating Toothless’ tail. They flew very low the whole time.

When they finally landed, it was all Toothless could do to stay upright, following his human dutifully to the den of Stoick-Hiccup’s-sire, where Astrid helped Hiccup into a human-nest and made Hiccup stay awake some more. Toothless clambered up into the bed beside his human and Hiccup scooted over to allow him to lay alongside. He didn’t touch Hiccup very much, because the human still made _ow, hurting_ sounds when touched. This alarmed Toothless greatly, and he gently _whuffed_ and nuzzled Hiccup in the places where it didn’t seem to hurt, like a mother comforting her hatchling after its first disastrous flight.

“Toothless, come here,” the Astrid said, and Toothless huffed and closed his eyes. He was too exhausted to move, and he didn’t have to listen to Astrid anyway. Astrid wasn’t in charge of him. “…Take…off, Toothless.” He flicked an ear and turned away, laying his head parallel to Hiccup’s.

“Hey!” Hiccup flick- _thwacked_ Toothless above the eye with a dexterous claw. It didn’t hurt at all, Hiccup’s paws were too soft and Toothless’ scales too tough, but Toothless cracked open one eye and flicked it toward his human’s tired, beloved face.

 _What are you doing, why do you thwack me,_ he grumbled in his chest, poking his tongue out between his teeth. _Leave me alone._

“Go to Astrid,” Hiccup told him. “She’s gonna get that harness off of you. You’ve been wearing it for almost two days now, bud, you’ve gotta be uncomfortable.”

Now that Hiccup mentioned it, Toothless could feel the harness chafing against his scales where it had been wet and was salty and rubbed and pinched in the wrong places. He forced himself to stand, grunting and clicking his throat with how difficult it felt because his legs were tired and his body was Big and Heavy. He thumped down from the bed, the landing sending tension through his legs into his back, and plodded over to Astrid.

Astrid made cooing, gentle sounds of _it’s okay, it’s alright_ at him. Astrid’s paws were not as deft as Hiccup’s, but they got the job done, and after a few moments the harness slithered off his body like shed skin. The little gold-furred human removed his tailfin last of all, and Toothless bent around to lick and bite at the place where the fake fin had been, where sea salt and scales were trapped and itching. “That’s a good boy,” Astrid said, scratching him on the head. He leaned into the affectionate caress and purred, but was startled and distracted by the sound of the Gothi-human entering the den and hobbling up the stairs, followed by the heavy _thump, thump, thump_ of Stoick-Hiccup’s-sire.

Astrid stood and went to speak to the humans. Toothless crawled back into the nest with Hiccup and purred at the warmth of his human, allowing the gentle neck scratches to lull him into sleep which he could not resist any longer.

***

Toothless woke to Hiccup’s soft voice and casual strokes to his scales with a cool human paw. He cracked an eye open and chuffed a greeting, pleased to see his human awake and well. Toothless lifted his head and placed it gently on Hiccup’s chest, not putting his full weight into it because he knew that might hurt. He crossed his eyes and blinked slowly. His eyes met Hiccup’s with complete love and trust.

One of Toothless’ favorite things was to sit like this with their faces close together, where the steady _whuff…whuff_ of his breath met Hiccup’s little _hiff, hiff, hiff._ They exchanged air in a loving greeting and then Toothless lapped out with his tongue, licking and grooming his human’s face with all the love and joy he felt at Hiccup’s mere presence. Hiccup laughed, _uh huh huh huh,_ then cringed and made an _ouch_ sound. Toothless drew back abruptly.

“Nah, bud, you didn’t hurt me. It’s my ribs, I cracked a few of them. I must have really tumbled, huh?”

Toothles moaned agreement and lay down beside Hiccup again. He wouldn’t beg to go flying, not today, because he was still tired and knew Hiccup was hurting. They flew every time they woke up except for sometimes, and today was one of those exceptions. It was alright, though; he knew they would be back in the air in due time. It would just take time to heal.

Toothless closed his eyes and let his human’s gentle breathing lull him back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi it's me here to solicit kudos and comments from you. Even if you just have like 3 seconds, leave something here just to let me know that somebody read this all the way through. It's fantastic for my Self of Steam.
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this and did this in snatches throughout what has been, I kid you not, one of the most insane weeks of my school career thus far. It was a great de-stressing tool, lol
> 
> If you're interested in seeing more of what I churn out on an irregular basis, check out my tumblr blogs. My personal (garbage) blog is @squeeb100 and my art blog is @squeeb-art. 
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, and I really hope this brightened somebody's day to read as much as it brightened my days to write it!


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